9.2 Call Me Hank

Sisters aren’t too bad I guess. But when they were little they just lay in their cribs and cried. A lot. So I stayed outside whenever I could. I would pretend that I was Captain Filbert of the Spaceship Hazelnut.

Then when I got home again, mom would be angry and yell at me for staying out so late. Or for not doing my homework, or spending too much time on the computer.

I didn’t like it when mom yelled at me.

When dad got home he found me hiding in my room and took me outside.

“What’s the problem, son? Being picked on at school?”

“No. Mom is mean. She yelled a me today when I got home.”

Dad was quiet after that for a bit. “Yeah, sometimes she is, but she doesn’t mean it. She just shouts and doesn’t realize what she’s doing.”

“I don’t want her to yell at me.”

“She might always yell, but I find that if I know why she’s really upset, I realize it’s not really me she’s mad at. Do you know why she was angry?”

“I didn’t do my homework.”

“And probably the twins were crying when you got home?” He guessed.

“They’re always crying.”

“They are, aren’t they.” He chuckled. “She probably was upset at them, but then you came home and she was upset that you’d been avoiding the house.”

I thought about that. It made sense, but that didn’t mean I liked it. We lay out in the grass a while and Dad pointed out silly cloud shapes to make me feel better.

I thought about what he said and I made sure to come home after school right away. I would tell mom about my school day when the twins were sleeping.

And made sure to do my homework right away.

Then, when mom knew I was being good, I’d go outside to play Captain Filbert or head upstairs to chat with Killer or downstairs to play games. I was nearing a high score in blickblock.

She didn’t get as upset if she knew where I was and eventually, the twins grew up and stopped crying all the time. Instead they chatted all the time. Ell was super annoying and always wanted to play with me. It wasn’t really bad most of the time, but she didn’t know how to play right.

And then she would be mean and yell at us that we weren’t any fun. She spent more time with her sister anyway. They played girly things, like dolls, and such. Ari wasn’t too bad, at least not until she decided to learn the piano. Coloring looked like it might be fun, but piano!? That was a whole lot of noise.

“You getting along with mom better?” Dad asked after we got back from Granite Falls.

“Yeah. You were right, she’s only mean when she’s upset about something else.”

“You know, most people are like that. It’s easy to look out for others when you’re feeling good, but when you’re upset, everything else just makes it worse.”

“Do you get mad too?”

“Yeah, but I only get mad at work.”

Just so you know, I really didn’t play much with my sisters even after they grew up. They’re kind of stupid and they don’t like sports or running around or computers. Instead I hang out with Uncle Luthor a lot. He’s a really awesome guy. He’s an top athlete for the Willow Creek Trouts. After school, I usually find him downstairs working out.

But once he’s done practicing he’ll go upstairs and watch TV. He’s really smart you know. Not just a dumb jock. If I ever have any questions about math, he always knows the answer.

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6 comments

Oh! I wanted to hug him so much when I saw him sad and hiding under the covers after Connie yelled at him. I loved how you wrote Bane’s conversation in explaining Connie’s outbursts. He’s such a patient and understanding dad. 🙂

Oh boy, a bro-jock type teen! Whatever happened to sweet Henry? This is going to be super interesting… xD

I know, I think he just doesn’t have a good opinion of “girly” stuff between his mom and sisters. Everyone he’s looked up to was male. He’s still a sweet kid…or would be his aspiration is even worse…public enemy!